Gary Zupal, regional vice-president of personal banking for Bank of Montreal’s Northern Gateway District; and Katherine Vukobratic, branch manager in Timmins, presented a cheque for $100,000 to the Timmins and District Hospital Capital Campaign – Building for Tomorrow’s Healthcare Today.
The Timmins and District Hospital provides medical services to 115,000 people living in a large catchment area extending from the James Bay Coast communities to Englehart, Hearst and Kirkland Lake.
It’s the largest hospital in Northeastern Ontario.
On hand to receive the generous donation were Jean-Paul Aubé, 2013-2016 Capital Campaign chairperson; and Janna Burke, executive director of the Timmins and District Hospital Foundation.
The cheque presentation took place at the BMO Timmins Branch on Pine Street S.
The money donated by BMO is for new medical equipment.
“BMO Financial Group focuses our social responsibility in the communities we serve,” Gary Zupal stated on presenting the cheque to Aubé, Vukobratic and the Timmins and District Hospital. “The medical equipment and infrastructure projects listed in the 2013-2016 Capital Campaign contributes to improved health care for the people of Timmins and surrounding area.”
Zupal said BMO accepts requests for contributions from a wide range of non-profit and charitable organizations.
“Our primary focus is on improve the health and well-being of families and children, but we will consider applications for a variety of good causes,” Zupal explained.
Vukobratic also explained BMO’s policy of contributing to the wellbeing of the communities they serve.
“BMO is committed to helping improve the quality of life in the communities where we work and live,” Vukobratic said. “We are honoured to support our local Hospital’s capital campaign."
A grateful Aubé acknowledged the generosity of the donation and thanked BMO for significantly contributing to health and well-being of residents, seniors and children in Timmins and surrounding area that it serves.
“As we mentioned at our official campaign launch in May, 2013, we are looking at renovating and relocating eight different departments at a cost of $2.6 million and replacing $12.4 million worth of equipment,” stated Jean-Paul Aubé. “Thanks to this generous contribution from BMO our capital campaign team has secured a total of $750,000 from the financial sector of Timmins in the third year of our four year campaign.”
In April, during the Hospital’s Progress Report to the community held at the Days Inn, Aubé said the campaign had raised more than $8.2 million toward its $15-million goal.
The funds pay for medical equipment and renovations needed at TADH.
He explained that provincial government does not contribute to hospital renovations, expansions or for replacing old medical equipment and purchasing new from CT scans to X-ray machines.
Aubé noted that Timmins and District Hospital is dependent on the kind offerings from its financial services, mining companies and other local and regional business.
“As a former member of the BMO team, I am especially proud to be accepting BMO’s contribution,” stated Burke.
“This donation brings us that much closer to our $15 million fundraising goal,” she said.
The hospital launched its capital campaign in 2013 in order to meet the growing and changing needs of the community.
Its goal is to fund the purchase of new medical equipment, to improve outdated and cramped medical facilities and to replace obsolete equipment with state-of-the art medical technology.
The Bank of Montreal, established in 1817, is one of the oldest banks in Canada.
BMO provides a variety of diversified services throughout North America.
As of April, 2015 it had a reported total net worth of $633 billion and employed 47,000 people.
It has more than 12 million customers and conducts business through three operational divisions – Personal and Commercial Banking; Wealth Management; and BMO Capital Markets.
(PHOTO: Holding the cheque for $100,00 from left to right: Janna Burke, executive director, TDHF; Gary Zupal, V.P. BMO; Katherine Vukobratic, BMO Timmins manager and Jean-Paul Aubé, chair, TDH 2013-2016 Capital Fund Campaign. Frank Giorno/TimminsToday)
